Ingredient: flour

I am in love with this recipe for cavatelli. It is a denser noodle than I normally enjoy, but it is relatively small shapes that are much neater for children to eat than the long strands of spaghetti. It goes extremely well with a hearty marinara sauce with meat. It is also fun to make. I made this the first time with our 3 1/2 year old granddaughter and she loved helping with it! She also loved how they tasted!

The cavatelli can be made up ahead of time and frozen, before boiling, in a single layer on a cookie sheet. No need to thaw before cooking.

Combine all ingredients in a mixer bowl. (I used a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but probably any heavy duty mixer will do.) Mix until ingredients come together to form a ball. It may be necessary to add a little more water, but start with this and check it after it starts to come together. You don't want it too sticky, but you don't want it too dry either. Wrap in plastic wrap and leave on counter for about 30-60 minutes for the gluten to relax.

Divide dough into 4 portions and keep all unworked portions covered with plastic except what you are working with.

Flour your work surface and roll the first portion of dough into a long rope. Keep working on it until it is about 1/2" thick. Use a pastry scraper or knife, cut into somewhat equal lengths of about 1/3-1/2".

Flour your work surface. You can use a sushi rolling mat, a gnocchi board or just onto a cutting board or other work surface. I prefer the sushi rolling mat. I got mine on Amazon for $5. I can place a few pieces on the mat at a time.

Then using a pastry scraper or the back of a knife or even your thumb, press down on the pieces of dough and pull back. The dough will make a roll back on itself to make a cute tube shape.

Continue working the rest of the dough until all of it has been shaped into cavatelli.

You can go either direction on the sushi mat or the gnocchi board to get the pattern you desire. I like going the long way on the sushi mat.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil and add sea salt liberally. I also added some olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together.

Boil the cavatelli for a few minutes, then remove from water.

This is excellent served with a hearty marinara sauce with meat and cheese.

These actually have more the consistency of muffins, but they are wonderful, regardless! I make them for me and our grandsons with raisins, but substitute chocolate chips for the raisins for my husband.

If you are using a baking stone, place that in the oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Cut in butter. You can make up a large batch and store it at this point, in the freezer or refrigerator.

Add sour cream, milk and raisins or chocolate chips, stirring just until combined.

If you are not using a baking stone, line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out onto baking sheet (I use a 2 oz. scoop). Bake for 12 minutes. Cool slightly, then drizzle with glaze.

This will make 11-12 mini muffins. Just use a 1 oz. scoop and bake in the mini muffin maker for 5 minutes.

Recipe Notes

The biscuit ingredients before adding the milk, sour cream, and raisins or chocolate chips measures 1 3/4 cups and weighs about 236 grams, so if you want to, you can mix up a big batch of the flour mixture, store in the refrigerator or freezer, then measure out just what you need and continue with the recipe.

This recipe came from www.thebusybaker.ca/2015/04/healthy-buttermilk-pancakes.html. The idea is that the butter and sugar is replaced with mashed banana, which makes it healthier. They were pretty good, light and fluffy, had a bit of a banana taste, but not too much. I cut the recipe down because it made a huge batch!

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

Mash banana. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. I just used a fork.

Add banana mixture and buttermilk to flour mixture. Stir everything just until combined.

Heat well seasoned cast iron (or your choice) griddle over medium heat. Add a little butter or oil if necessary. Ladle about 1/2 cup batter at a time onto griddle. When you see some of the bubbles around the edge begin to break, flip the pancakes over. Cook on the other side just until a nice golden brown. Serve immediately!

Recipe Notes

Although spelt is actually a type of wheat flour, most people with wheat allergies can digest spelt flour with no problem. Obviously, you should not eat spelt if it is a problem for you.

Crepes are so versatile! They can be used for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert or a snack! This is a very good basic recipe that is based on the recipe from www.chef-in-training.com. I liked it better than the other recipes I tried, so I am sharing it here.

We had a Create Your Own Crepe bar for Mother’s Day. My favorite was this crepe with a cheesecake filling, some sliced strawberries and some mini chocolate chips. There are so many possibilities! Other options we offered were puddings (chocolate, French vanilla, banana), Whipped topping, Chocolate Sauce (it hardened and we couldn’t get it out of the bottle easily!), Blackberry Jam, cinnamon mixed with powdered sugar, and powdered sugar by itself. It turned out great! We also made some chocolate crepes, but I preferred these to the chocolate ones!

The batter can be made up a day or two ahead of time, and/or the crepes can be made up ahead of time and put back on the griddle for just a few seconds per side to reheat.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour and eggs. Slowly add milk and water stirring until smooth. Add salt and butter (and sugar if making dessert crepes) and continue whisking until smooth. (You can also just dump everything in a blender and blend until smooth.) Refrigerate in a covered container for at least 30 minutes.

Heat oiled pan to medium high temperature. Pour about 3-4 T. of batter into pan and tilt the pan to swirl in a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook crepe for about 1-2 minutes until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, and turn. Serve hot and fill or top however you desire.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cut the steak into 8 equal portions and trim fat from the meat. Pound with a good meat tenderizer. I highly recommend OXO Softworks Meat Tenderizer. Mine came from Amazon. (Pounding is not necessary if you are using cubed steak.)

Place large skillet on medium-high heat. Add oil to cover bottom of pan. Meanwhile, dredge the meat pieces in the flour mixture. Transfer to the beaten eggs. Then back to the flour mixture. Cook in skillet with oil until nicely browned on both sides. Remove the cooked meat to cookie sheet and place in warm oven, as you continue cooking the rest of the meat. This will keep it warm while you finish cooking the meat and make the gravy. Continue cooking the meat until all pieces have been browned. Reserve flour mixture.

Leave drippings in skillet and add 4 T. butter to skillet. Melt over medium-high heat. Stir in 4 T. flour mixture left from dredging meat (or use fresh flour). Combine well with butter and cook until it begins to thicken. Slowly whisk in milk and continue to cook, whisking frequently, until thickened. Stir in the heavy cream, thyme, and season with more salt and pepper.

Recipe Notes

Although spelt is actually a type of wheat flour, most people with wheat allergies can digest spelt flour with no problem. Obviously, you should not eat spelt if it is a problem for you.

This is much faster and easier than making bread from yeast, but is very delicious! Total time for preparation and baking is about 35 minutes if you are using buttermilk. This is a moist, tender bread rather than the crusty bread that I usually make. This is wonderful for sandwiches, but also makes good toast.

If you desire sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or caraway seeds on the bread, that is an option. If you want to add 1 cup of raisins or cranberries, you can do that too! This is very versatile!

I like to brush the top of my loaf with one of these choices: egg wash (makes a crustier bread), butter or milk. These will help make the crust a pretty brown. However, it is totally up to you whether you do this or not!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you are not using buttermilk: In a cup or small bowl, stir together the milk and vinegar. Let stand for 10 minutes, or until curdled.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder. Stir in the buttermilk and honey until smooth.

Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface, and shape into a disc. Place the disc into a cast iron skillet. (Mine is 9 1/2" and was plenty big enough for a batch and a half.) Lightly cut a cross in the top of the loaf. Brush top of loaf with egg wash, milk, or butter (opt.) Now would be the time to add sesame seeds, poppy seeds, caraway seeds, etc.

Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the crust feels firm to the touch.

Recipe Notes

Although spelt is actually a type of wheat flour, most people with wheat allergies can digest spelt flour with no problem. Obviously, you should not eat spelt if it is a problem for you.

The first instruction image was my first attempt at this bread. It tasted great, but was pretty ugly because I did not brush the crust with any milk, butter or egg. The other images were my second attempt. I made a batch and a half and baked it for 30 minutes. I forgot to cut the cross in the top of the loaf, but brushed it with butter before baking and shaped it better with my hands. It is a much prettier loaf.

I made a double batch, used the same medium sized cast iron skillet and baked it for 35 minutes. It was perfectly done!

Thick and creamy, uses up your leftover baked potatoes. Or make extra potatoes for this soup!

To make this gluten free, just substitute 1/3 cup cornstarch or potato starch mixed with some of the milk in place of the flour. Bring the rest of the milk to a boil, then slowly add the cornstarch mixture and stir to thicken. Or sorghum flour works great for soups and sauces.

In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, melt butter. Cook onions and celery for a few minutes. Stir in flour. Heat and stir until smooth. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Add potatoes. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, and pepper, and stir until cheese is melted. Or sprinkle cheese and bacon on top as a garnish.

Recipe Notes

Although spelt is actually a type of wheat flour, most people with wheat allergies can digest spelt flour with no problem. Obviously, you should not eat spelt if it is a problem for you.